Solanum melongena “Rotonda Bianca”
Rotonda Bianca eggplant, round white eggplant, egg-shaped eggplant: this type of variety is what gave the eggplant its English name, eggplant — the first ones introduced to Europe were white and egg-shaped. Its flesh is milder, creamier and above all less bitter than that of black varieties, with significantly fewer seeds.
Characteristics:
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Round white fruits: a traditional Italian variety that is highly decorative.
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Mild, creamy flesh: only slightly bitter, so it does not need to be salted to draw out the excess moisture.
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Easy to grow: suitable for gardens as well as patios and balconies in a large pot.
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Thin skin: no need to peel it; it melts during cooking.
Precautions:
- Like all nightshades, its foliage and immature fruits contain solanine and must not be eaten. Only well-formed fruits are edible, and they must always be cooked.
- A frost-tender, cold-sensitive plant: it begins to suffer as soon as nighttime temperatures fall below 12 °C.
Sowing advice:
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Position: warm, sunny and sheltered from the wind.
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Soil: very rich in humus, deep, moist and well drained. This is an extremely hungry plant: a generous addition of well-rotted compost is decisive for fruiting.
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Method: sow indoors in pots from February onward, at 24-26 °C — a critical point, as eggplant germinates poorly below 20 °C and is far more demanding than tomato. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant after the frosts, spacing plants 60 cm apart, and provide a stake: stems laden with round, heavy fruits bend easily.
Care advice:
- Water regularly at the base without wetting the foliage. Mulch generously.
- In our climates, limit each plant to 4 or 5 fruits by pinching out the stem above the last one: you will obtain properly developed eggplants rather than a succession of unfinished fruits.
Harvesting advice:
- Harvest when the fruit is deep white, firm and shiny. As soon as it turns yellow or becomes dull, it is overripe: the flesh becomes bitter and full of hard seeds.
Beneficial companion plants:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its violet flowers require buzz pollination: only bumblebees, which can vibrate their muscles at high frequency, are capable of it. Welcoming them into the garden directly improves your harvest.
- Growing colorful heirloom varieties helps preserve cultivated diversity.
Uses:
- Its round shape makes it the ideal eggplant for stuffing. It is also excellent roasted in thick slices, grilled, used in parmigiana or made into caviar. Always cooked, never raw.
Saving your own seeds:
Leave one fruit well beyond the eating stage, until it turns yellow and wrinkles. Then remove the seeds, rinse them and dry them. Since eggplant is mostly self-pollinating, cross-pollination remains limited. See how to save your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Volcanoes of Auvergne, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, tested for their germination rate, carefully sorted and packaged, with no chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
The white eggplant of Italian kitchen gardens, mild and made for stuffing.
